Why this ride
349 km from Kashihara-shi to Kashihara-shi, about 5 h 37 of riding. It goes by way of Byodo-in, Himeji-jo and back through Byodo-in. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara and Himeji-jo
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 349 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 37
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara
Fujiwara-kyō was Japan's first real city, and the grid that was laid out on this plain in 694 under Empress Jitō was a deliberate imitation of the Tang capital of Chang'an. Until then, the court had wandered from one palace to the next, and each reign built afresh. Fujiwara-kyō fixed the capital in one place, with straight avenues, a walled palace compound, and blocks for officials and temples. It lasted only sixteen years before the court moved north to Heijō-kyō, today's Nara, in 710, but the idea of a planned capital stayed, and Nara and Kyoto followed the same pattern.
Read the complete Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara is where the day begins. Next is Byodo-in.
2. Byōdō-in
Take a ten-yen coin out of your pocket in Japan and you are holding a picture of this place. The Phoenix Hall of the Byōdō-in in Uji, with its wings stretching out on either side of a central hall and bronze phoenixes on the roof, is one of the most famous buildings in the country. It was built in 1053 by Fujiwara no Yorimichi, a member of the most powerful aristocratic family of the Heian period, who converted his father's villa into a Buddhist temple. Its reflection in the pond in front was meant to evoke the Pure Land paradise of the Amida Buddha.
Read the complete Byodo-in write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Byōdō-in comes up about 52 km into the recorded legs. Next is Himeji-jo.
3. Himeji-jo
Himeji Castle is the one that survived. Japan has a lot of reconstructed keeps, concrete inside and gift shop on the ground floor, but the big white donjon here is the real thing, largely as it stood in the early 1600s when Ikeda Terumasa rebuilt the place on the hill. It came through the bombing of 1945 and the Kobe earthquake of 1995 with the timbers intact, and it has been a World Heritage site since 1993. The plaster is so brilliantly white that people call it Hakuro-jo, the White Heron, and on a clear morning from the east side you can see why: the roofs stack up like a bird lifting off.
Read the complete Himeji-jo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 174 km into the recorded legs you reach Himeji-jo. Next is back through Byodo-in.
4. back through Byodo-in
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Byodo-in write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Byodo-in, late in the day. Next is Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara.
5. Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara to Byodo-in
Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara → Byodo-in is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Byōdō-in to Himeji-jo
Byōdō-in → Himeji-jo is 122 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Himeji-jo to back through Byodo-in
Himeji-jo → back through Byodo-in is 122 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Byodo-in to Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara
back through Byodo-in → Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Kawara-dera Temple Site and Himeji-jo · 351 km
- Asuka Pond Garden Site and Himeji-jo · 348 km
- Asuka Water Clock Site and Himeji-jo · 348 km
- Asuka Palace Site and Himeji-jo · 350 km